Mumbai: Less than a week after the state government transferred IAS officer P Velrasu from CEO of MIDC and posted him as principal secretary in the forest department, the state on Monday again posted him as additional metropolitan commissioner (AMC) in the MMDRA. Velrasu replaced AMC Vikram Kumar.Kumar has been posted as vice president and managing director of Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Limited (Mahatransco). IAS officer Sanjeev Kumar, who was VP and MD at Mahatransco, has been posted as secretary of the food, civil supplies and consumer protection department. Jayant Borkar, executive director, Tapi Irrigation Development Corporation, Jalgaon, has been posted as secretary (project coordination) in the water resources department.Last week, in a major embarrassment, the state govt had stayed the transfer of IAS officer Dr Ashwini Joshi from additional municipal commissioner in BMC to additional metropolitan commissioner in MMRDA. The state govt also stayed IAS officer Prajakta Verma’s appointment as additional municipal commissioner in the BMC in place of Joshi. Officials said Joshi was handling the work related to Special Intensive Revision (SIR), and so her transfer was stayed since prior permission of the Election Commission (EC) was not taken. With Joshi continuing in the BMC, Verma is still waiting with no new posting so far.A senior bureaucrat said changing orders of a senior IAS officer within a week to a totally new department from forest to MMRDA was an embarrassment for the state govt. “Last week, transfers were stayed within 24 hours because no permission from the EC was taken before transferring officers involved in SIR work. Now, transfers have been changed within a week. It reflects poorly on the state govt’s general administration department and CMO,” said the bureaucrat. Currently, IAS officers Shrikar Pardeshi and Lokesh Chandra are posted in the CM’s office as principal secretary and additional chief secretary, respectively.Additional metropolitan commissioner Ashwin Mudgal was posted as managing director (VC & MD) of the City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) replacing Vijay Singhal. Singhal has been posted as CEO and officer on special duty for the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP). With Velrasu now replacing Vikram Kumar, Mudgal’s post in the MMDRA is still vacant and yet to be filled.An IAS officer of the 2002 batch Velrasu was posted as MIDC CEO in August 2024. Currently, additional chief secretary (ACS) Milind Mhaiskar is holding charge of the forest department.
